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martin luther king

Today marks the federal observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. Since his tragic assassination on April 4, 1968, King's memory has been pressed into service in highly unusual ways that King himself would not have supported.

As the nation pauses to remember civil rights leader this year, it's a good time to take a look at what this great American leader really thought about church-state issues.

Last week, AU Legislative Director Maggie Garrett and I traveled throughout North Carolina to talk with faith leaders about the need to keep faith communities out of partisan politics as well as religious freedom legislation at both the state and federal levels.

We made stops in Greenville, Durham, Charlotte and Asheville. The people of North Carolina, particularly the AU chapter leaders and leaders with the North Carolina Council of Churches with whom we partnered, are incredibly gracious and hospitable. North Carolina is certainly a beautiful state. I loved our time there.

As years pass, historical figures start to get a little fuzzy around the edges. This is especially true of those men and women who loom large over public consciousness. Activist groups, eager to co-opt these important historical personages, start subtly rewriting history.

Even though the Supreme Court has declined to hear a case about churches using public schools for worship services, the Religious Right just can’t seem to move on.

Last year, the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals said a congregation, Bronx Household of Faith, could no longer use a New York City public school to hold worship services. The congregation of about 50 had been using a public school, rent free, for almost 10 years.

The Web has been abuzz lately over some comments made by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley.

Speaking at a Jan. 17 church service after his inauguration, Bentley told a crowd at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Church, “Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I’m telling you, you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister, and I want to be your brother.”

Note: Today is the federal observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. This blog post is a re-publication on an item that originally appeared on Jan. 13, 2006.

Today marks the federal observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday. Since his tragic assassination on April 4, 1968, King's memory has been pressed into service in highly unusual ways that King himself would not have supported.

As the nation pauses to remember civil rights leader this year, it's a good time to take a look at what this great American leader really thought about church-state issues.

Religious Right leaders love to invoke Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King engaged in civil disobedience to oppose Jim Crow laws in the South, they argue, and so can we to fight abortion or same-sex marriage.

Today is the federal observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. As such, it's a good time to respond to offensive Religious Right's efforts to draft King as an ally in their crusade to promote pulpit-based partisan politicking on behalf of candidates seeking public office.

King certainly organized people to vote in churches and used the pulpit to denounce the South's practice of segregation. Nothing in the tax code prevented that. But King did not take the step the Religious Right prods pastors to take – endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit.